The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbine engines, and more specifically, to systems and methods for exhausting combustion gases from gas turbine engines.
Gas turbine engines are used in a wide variety of applications, such as power generation, aircraft, and various machinery. Gas turbine engines generally combust a fuel with an oxidant (e.g., air) in a combustor section to generate hot combustion products, which then drive one or more turbine stages of a turbine section. In turn, the turbine section drives one or more compressor stages of a compressor section. Again, the fuel and oxidant mix in the combustor section, and then combust to produce the hot combustion products. The thermal energy of the hot combustion products from the turbine section may be used to produce steam. However, the hot combustion products may be treated before being used to produce the steam. For example, a catalyst may be used to treat the hot combustion products to reduce the amounts of certain compounds. Unfortunately, inadequate mixing and/or distribution of the hot combustion products before contacting the catalyst may degrade catalyst performance and/or shorten the life of the catalyst. Furthermore, gas turbine engines typically consume a vast amount of air as the oxidant, and output a considerable amount of exhaust gas into the atmosphere. In other words, the exhaust gas is typically wasted as a byproduct of the gas turbine operation.